Tennent grad thrilled to be part of 2011's best movie cast

Mike Vogel’s been a leading man before, and he’ll no doubt be one again.

But as any actor can tell you, sometimes ceding the spotlight to others works out pretty well.

Vogel, a 1998 William Tennent High School graduate, appeared in the hit 2011 drama “The Help,” portraying kind-hearted socialite Johnny Foote. He’s not the star of the film, but he is part of a ridiculously talented cast that on Sunday night won top prize at the Screen Actors Guild Awards.

“The Help” won the guild’s ensemble award — the show’s version of best picture.

“It’s a pretty cool deal,” Vogel, 32, says by telephone from Los Angeles Monday afternoon, a day after being onstage with his fellow cast members to accept the award. “It’s been amazing.

“I’d be overstepping my bounds to claim any part of the responsibility for the success of this thing, but I do truly believe this was an absolute ensemble. It fell on some shoulders more than others, but from the cast to (director/screenwriter) Tate Taylor to Kathryn Stockett (who wrote the novel), this was a team effort across the board. It’s an absolute honor to be included with them.”

Unlike “Help” stars Viola Davis and Octavia Spencer, who won best actress and best supporting actress at the SAGs, respectively, Vogel didn’t have to worry about speaking during the awards. But he did have one, not-so-small thing to remember.

“My wife (Courtney) told me that when you win, make sure you do the right thing and kiss me before you do anything else,” he says. “I remembered that. I scored brownie points.”

Courtney wasn’t the only person confident that “The Help” would claim the big prize Sunday. Buoyed by Davis’ and Spencer’s universally acclaimed performances and a star-studded cast that also includes Emma Stone, Allison Janney, Sissy Spacek, Cicely Tyson and Jessica Chastain, “The Help” seemed to be in a two-film race with Golden Globe best comedy/musical winner “The Artist.”

The two films will be among the frontrunners again next month at the Oscars. In the 16 years of the SAGs, eight ensemble winners have also won best-picture Oscars.

“I guess it all depends on who you talk to,” Vogel says, when asked if he thought the cast would win on Sunday. “I kept hearing ‘The Artist,’ but all kinds of people sitting near us kept saying, ‘You know you’re going to win.’

“More than anything, there are people who have been in this business 30, 40 years who don’t have that experience. It’s kind of a shock.”

But Vogel wasn’t at all shocked by the accolades for Spencer, who plays the outspoken, oft-fired maid Minny Jackson.

“What Octavia is going through is absolutely a testament to how quickly things can change in this business,” he says. “She’s been kicking around forever, but she was just as good an actress then as she is now. But everyone has one role, one time, where people stand up and say, ‘Oh, my gosh.’

“I told Octavia when we were filming, ‘Just watch, just wait for awards season.’ She said to me, ‘Oh, shut up, Mike.’ After she won the Golden Globe, I was the first person to text her: ‘I told you so.’”

Vogel was thrilled to be part of history. Wins by Davis and Spencer marked the first time African-American actresses won both the lead and supporting SAG awards in the same year. The fact that it happened for the same movie made the accomplishment even more noteworthy.

He was also happy to play a good guy for a change.

“Sometimes, it’s fun to play the bad guy, but to be in a situation where I played a guy with a great heart, to be on the right side of things for once, was pretty cool.”

Of course, like any actor, Vogel would have preferred a little more screen time, but in a film with a final running time of two hours and 20 minutes, not everything was going to make the cut. Scenes focusing on his relationships with ex-girlfriend Bryce Dallas Howard and wife Chastain ended up on the cutting-room floor to allow more time for the story of the maids uncovering the truth about life in Jackson, Miss.

“There are always going to be some sacrificial lambs,” he says.

Still, it was a big year onscreen for Vogel, whose past credits include “Blue Valentine” (2010), “Cloverfield” (2008), “Poseidon” (2006) and “Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants” (2005). He is one of the stars of the 1960s-set ABC drama “Pan Am.”

Starring in “Pan Am” helped him revisit his love of flying; he was going to be a pilot before he became an actor. Even better, the show was filmed in New York City, allowing him to temporarily move back to the East Coast with his wife and daughters Cassy, 5, and Charlee, 3, and spend time with his family in Bucks County.

“Pan Am” has not yet been picked up for a second season and is facing cancellation rumors, but Vogel is still under contract, leaving his immediate plans in limbo.

It’s not the first time a contract situation has interfered with his career.

Under different circumstances, Vogel could be busy preparing for the release of “The Avengers” right now. He was tabbed to play the title role in “Captain America” last summer, but couldn’t take the job because he was under contract with the short-lived 2010 CBS drama “Miami Medical.” Chris Evans ended up landing the lucrative role.

Vogel almost has to laugh at the missed opportunity.

“I made my peace with that at the time,” he says. “I know Chris. He’s a good guy.

“I’ve been through that several times in my career. It hurts. You just have to keep going. Hopefully, it’s common wisdom that you can’t get that close that many times and not have it work out eventually.

“Whatever happens, I know I’m blessed to be working, blessed to be doing what I love in some capacity.”

And in a lot of ways, he’s still the same kid who grew up in Warminster, playing baseball at William Tennent and skateboarding with his buddies. In fact, one of his best friends in L.A. is fellow ’98 Tennent grad Corey Petric, who runs a production company. Vogel is on his way to visit Petric during our interview.

According to his dad, Jim, owner of Ben Franklin Plumbing, Mike will still help out with the family business when he’s home.

“He’ll still occasionally throw on the uniform, jump in the truck and run some calls,” Jim says. “People don’t realize who’s in their house.”

For Jim, seeing his son honored on TV as part of the best film cast of 2011 was a thrill.

“We’re used to seeing him on TV and in the movies, but when they called ‘The Help,’ it was still pretty exciting,” Jim says. “It almost brought tears to your eyes.”

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